The present invention generally relates to antennas. More specifically, the present invention relates to flexible RF antennas with weather protection.
Standard adjustable antennas typically do not have a robust weatherproof interface between the antenna and the mounting location of the antenna. The mounting location can be anything from an electronic box to a vehicle. For simplicity, the mounting location will be referred to as a housing. One reason is that there is a lack of a robust weatherproof interface is the difficulty to design a weatherproof product using an off-the-shelf antenna that has already been designed for a specific purpose. A second reason might be that there is not a significant demand to produce such an antenna in flexible weatherproof version. Another issue with most adjustable antennas is it that the antenna design does not have a 3-dimensional flexible joint and only allows for rotation along one axis. Whereby, if the antenna is struck by accident, the antenna may transfer a large impact load to the housing or the antenna connector, potentially damaging the housing or antenna connector.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a weatherproof antenna that flexible in all directions, so the antenna does not transfer impact loads to the housing.